Tag: 100 years of electronic music

Booka Shade are to headline Noise of Art’s month of shows celebrating 100 years since the first electronic music concert in April 1914.

Throughout April Noise of Art will celebrate of 100 years since Luigi Russolo played his debut concert using his prototype synthesisers. The month of events will culminate with special performance by leading live German electronic act, Booka Shade, at The Convergence Festival, Village Underground, on Friday 25 April.

April marks 100 years since the first electronic music concert in April 1914. Noise of Art is celebrating the occasion with a month of events and the 2014 London debut of Booka Shade’s new live set. The Berlin based electronic act are playing the flagship night of Noise of Art’s centenary events, acknowledging Germany’s role in the history of electronic music. Their new show is based on Booka Shade’s critically praised fifth album, Eve – itself recorded using vintage synthesisers.

With more acts to be announced, the events mark 100 years since Luigi Russolo, author of “Manifesto For An Art of Noises”, unveiled his prototype synthesisers in April 1914.

“Stratospherically successful production duo… making immaculate, tactile house music.” (NME)

Alongside Slipped Disco at Big Chill House this Friday, Liquorish on Saturday 22 February and Concrete Bar, Southbank on Friday 28 February, Noise Art is busy preparing events celebrating 100 Years since Luigi Russolo first played his prototype synthesisers in 1914.

The first details will be announced soon, but in the meantime Ben Osborne and Slipped Disco slide into Big Chill House (257-259 Pentonville Road King’s Cross London N1 9N. Free Entry. 7pm – 3 am) on Friday 7 February for a night of all things dance floor. “This pleases us very much indeed, primarily because of the anything-goes music policy that sees anything from classic techno, punk-funk, galactic house, deep down and dirty disco and other dancefloor dynamite do the rounds.” (Time Out)

Noise of Art’s electronic music and cross platform art event, Wicker Man Disco Inferno, was inspired the 1973 film (Wicker Man) and the book that inspired the film (Ritual – click here for info).

We worked with the book’s author, David Pinner, creating a music and spoken word sound track, spoken live by Nathaniel Parker (best known for playing Inspector Lynley in the Inspector Lynley Mysteries TV series, as well as for playing Gordon Brown opposite Helen Mirren in The Audience).

Alongside this new music by Groove Armada and Ben Osborne, played by seminal electronic musician Si Begg and DJ Ben Osborne, was joined by cross platform art performances and artworks by Overlap, The People Pile, Mark Scott Wood and the Noise of Art performers – including wearable art pieces based on Luigi Russolo’s intonorumori.

Following fabulously fun and innovative shows at BFI and Latitude, including Nathaniel Parker ducking out of Royal Shakespeare Company rehearsals to do live vocals, we’re jumping into the holiday season with a new Club launch by our sister outlet Slipped Disco – more details below.

Thank you to everyone who came along to the first three of Noise of Art’s 100 Years of Electronic music celebrations at Latitude, British Film Institute Southbank and Village Underground. And special thanks to Nathaniel Parker, Si Begg, Coldcut, Mental Overdrive, Frost, Slow and all the performers and artists taking part in the 100 year project so far. Nat Parker was a revelation on vocals. There’s much more to come. Our gratitude also to David Pinner, author of Ritual, the book that inspired Wicker Man, who selected passages for the show.

More “100 Years of Electronic Music” shows to come soon, but in the meantime there’s some info on this month’s sister events here. August dates include Buffalo (3 August), The Angel (10), ECD (19) Big Chill Bar (23) Bar Concrete at Hayward Gallery (30)).

Noise of Art starts its celebration of 100 years of electronic music with a rare as hens teeth chance to see the Eccentronic Research Council, featuring Maxine Peake, live

Marking a century since Luigi Russolo, the Italian futurist, published his ‘Manifesto for An Art of Noises’ (1913) and designed what many hold to be the first synthesiser, the celebrations will see a series of music and cross platform art events taking place over the next year. The Launch party references the role Sheffield played in electronic music and the era defining music that came out of London’s clubs at the turn of the 21st Century.

Headlining the show is the Eccentronic Research Council, featuring film, stage and TV star Maxine Peak on vocals. Amongst her many roles, Peake has starred in Shameless, Dinner Ladies, Clubbed and Silk, and is about to headline the 2013 Manchester International Festival.

This is the first time Eccentronic Research Council has played in London (having turned down every previous offer) and will be the only chance to see the cross-platform band perform their acclaimed ‘1612 Underture’ in the Capital. If you miss this you have really missed out.

The core of Eccentronic Research Council, apart from Maxine, are Dean Hohner and Adrian Flanagan, two vintage synth enthusiasts who are themselves part of Sheffield’s electronic and leftfield heritage, having been members of band’s such as I Monster, Kings Have long Arms, The Chanteuse & The Crippled Claw and All Seeing Eye. They count Sheffield legends such as DJ Parrot, Jarvis Cocker and Phil Oakey in their circle.

Keeping the party going all night long, will be a core collection of London DJs from the most legendary London nightclubs at the start of the 21st Century.

Pioneering what was at times called electroclash, electro house, indie dance, new rave, disco punk, the Hoxton sound, Berlin sound and, simply, electro (but all the while trying to wriggle out of having a name at all), the clubs rebelled against the over-produced dance music of the late Nineties and looked back to early synthesiser music for inspiration; something they have in common with ECR’s love of vintage analogue sounds – plenty of which will be on hand tonight.

The clubs, such as Nag Nag Nag , The Cock, Trash and Anti Social, all returned to electronic music’s dirtier sounding roots, but came back with different takes.

Representing these clubs tonight will be Fil Ok, resident DJ and founder of the legendary Nag Nag Nag. Jim Stanton, DJ and creator of The Cock, one of the clubs, alongside Trash, responsible for the sound in London, and Scottee, the DJ and performance artist who, along with Buster, was behind Anti Social, the maddest and baddest new rave club of them all.

Justin Robertson, legendary DJ, Bugged Out resident and original Hacienda Acid houser, will be wearing his Deadstock 33’s hat, a new nom de plume that sees him delve back to the heyday of New York anti-disco in a way that only he could. Check out his sublime new LP on Munk’s seminal imprint, Gomma, to see what we mean.

Meanwhile the DJ’s DJ, Italian stallion Severino, who alongside Jim Stanton was a founder member of Horse Meat Disco (the night that brought disco back), will be flying the flag for his synthesiser inventing and electronic music fathering compatriot, Luigi Russolo.

DJ and Noise of Art founder Ben Osborne will be intervening at various points, incorporating some of the electronic sounds created by Luigi Russolo into his contemporary dancefloor set. And there’s more to be announced…